Age of Convenience

Fast Food. TV Dinners. Convenience Stores. Drive-Thru Beverage Stores. Drive-Thru Food. Drive-Thru Church. Uber. Lyft. Uber Eats. Door Dash. InstaCart. Internet. Amazon Prime. Two-Day Delivery. Next Day Delivery. Same Day Delivery. Fast Cars. Smartphones. SmartTVs. Alexa. Smartwatches. Online Shopping.

We have grown so accustomed to convenience and the quick and easy. We no longer know what it means to wait. I mean, I may be the prime example of this. Imagine my surprise when I moved to a small town in the middle of nowhere and had to come to grips with the fact that my Amazon Prime no longer meant Same Day Delivery on most items. I mean, I hardly get Free Two-Day Shipping and we don’t get deliveries on the weekends, but I digress.

I think that sometimes we expect God to fit into this age of the quick, easy, and convenient. I mean, what in life has not moved in this direction?

Thankfully, we serve an unchanging God. Thankfully, He invites us to not only slow down, but also be still.

Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. Psalm 46:10 KJV

In the midst of the pandemic, there has been a great move known as The Great Resignation, that has taken place. It has been reported that roughly 33 million Americans have resigned their positions since Spring 2021. I’ve read various articles about this. Some say that it’s older workers retiring early. Some say that it’s millennials electing to work from home or seek nontraditional careers. Some say that its lower waged employees seeking higher paying jobs. I’m not totally certain myself. However, I do know that the pandemic revealed a lot of things to a lot of people. There are those who have realized that there is no need to return to the office, therefore are deciding to remain working from home, or finding jobs that will allow them to do so. The pandemic gave a rise to online grocery shopping. There is the convenience of ordering your groceries and having them delivered or having them loaded in your vehicle. The same goes for buying just about anything from just about any type of store.

The pandemic also impacted the way we do church. Many churches actually saw a rise in attendance once they went virtual as opposed to their in person attendance. There was, I guess is, the convenience of watching a service “live” as it being streamed, or viewing the archive at your convenience, as many continue to elect to do church in these formats. And please understand, there is no judgement on my part, as long as the Word of God is being shared. Despite how things change in this life, God is God. He will be exalted. His ways are superior to ours.

The greatest lessons that I learn over and over are to slow down, wait, and be still. As I continue to develop my relationship with God, I am constantly reminded that it takes time. And I have to take the time to do the work it takes to draw close to Him. It’s the same in any relationship we want to work. Relationships take time and work. God is not a God of the quick and easy, nor is He a God of the convenient. I’m thankful that He takes His time with me, pruning me, reproving me, loving me, chastening me. In turn, I will strive to do my best not to rush, but to take my time with Him.

*Original Image by KayBee05